Drunken driver gets 5 years prison time

A woman who admitted that she struck two children with her SUV while driving drunk in August was sentenced Wednesday in Clinton County.

Heather McDaniel, 40, of Frankfort was handed a five year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction followed by a year of probation for two Class D felony counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury.

The brother and sister whom McDaniel struck submitted letters to the court explaining the hardship they’ve experienced over the past eight months.

Hunter Davis, 13, read his letter to the judge during McDaniel’s sentencing hearing.

“I can’t play football anymore and that is my life that she took away from me,” he wrote, urging Clinton Superior Judge Justin Hunter to give McDaniel at least six years in jail.

McKenna Sellers-Davis, 16, didn’t read her letter during open court, but she did submit it as part of a pre-sentence investigation, according to Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Sommer, who said he secured permission before releasing the document. In it, she compares the activities her friends enjoy to that which she’s able to do in light of her injuries.

“I am 16 and can’t drive because I still have a broken femur,” she wrote. “I hate feeling helpless, sad, embarrassed, ashamed, and guilty.”

“I feel this every day while she enjoys life.”

Arguing that being behind bars would prevent McDaniel from re-offending, Sellers-Davis also asked Hunter for the maximum sentence.

“I just don’t want her to end up killing someone like she almost killed my brother,” she wrote.

McDaniel also was ordered to pay $576.50 in partial restitution. The victims’ mother is still incurring costs as a result of the crime, according to a sentencing order released by Clinton Superior Court.